Chinese Supertankers Escape Red Sea Blockade with Saudi Oil
Two Chinese supertankers carrying Saudi oil escaped a blockade in the Red Sea via the Bab El-Mandeb strait on Thursday. The vessels, Xin Long Yang and Cosnew Lake, had been traveling through the area when they were spotted making small circles in the Gulf of Aden.
The ships' crew members are Chinese, and they loaded crude oil from Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port earlier this week. Xin Long Yang was headed to Qinzhou in southern Guangxi province, while Cosnew Lake is expected to discharge its cargo at Huizhou, in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
The Red Sea blockade by Yemen's Houthi militias has worsened global energy supply disruption, coming at the same time as the Strait of Hormuz has practically shut due to renewed fighting between the US and Iran. At least two other supertankers chartered by Unipec, scheduled to enter the Red Sea later this month, slowed their advance toward Bab El-Mandeb.